Strangles and fungal skin infections have affected the wild horses being held near Reno, in Nevada.

A wild horse advocacy group has voiced its concerns over infections in captive wild horses held at a short-term holding facility run by the Bureau of Land Management.

Wild Horse Education, a non-profit organization in Nevada that tracks the condition of wild horses and burros on the range and in holding, has asked the bureau to provide immediate medical care and adequate husbandry practices to horses currently held at a the Palomino Valley Center (PVC) north of Reno.

The group said while none of the conditions required emergency response, they required attention.

The center is soon to come out of quarantine following an outbreak of strangles.

“Once the quarantine period ends, animals that test clear of shedding the virus will be shipped to events and other facilities around the nation,” the group, founded by wild horse advocate Laura Leigh, said in a statement.

“There may be some other condition present and lifting the quarantine may be premature.

“The papilloma virus has been spreading through the younger animals.

“Wild horses captured last summer, this past winter, and those born at the facility have been documented with the warts that the virus causes.

“Equine papilloma virus is a highly contagious viral disease, with transmission of the virus occurring via direct contact between horses, or as result of contact with infected equipment. Equines up to the age of 3 to 4 years, due to immature immune systems, are extremely susceptible to this disease; older equines are less susceptible, but are not completely free from risk.

“Once they get the disease warts can form often all over the nose and become bloody and oozing. Who will want to adopt a horse that looks like that, even if the condition is treatable?”

Fungal ringworm has affected animals in the facility for years, it said.

Such factors made the horses unlikely adoption candidates, the group said.

“The problem is not with the personnel at the different facilities, who by the way have recently been cut back again, the problem is with the BLM national policy.”

Responsible practices on the range and in holding seemed to be a low priority for an agency, the group said.

“The very least we can do is immediately find the funding to give basic care to the wild horses in holding to protect them and enhance their chances of being adopted,” Leigh said.

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Comments (5)

Anybody else would be charged with neglect for letting the horses go without medical attention, but not the BLM. Strangles, ringworm, warts..injuries untreated. Come on, they can spend the money on these high priced pilots from Sun J and Catoor who abuse the horses and donkeys, try to run them down with the struts of the helicopters, run them off cliffs, and them they offer them dry hay, unfit water, and all the leftovers and cry broke doing it. They created these horrid conditions for the mustangs. They need to leave the horse alone, treat and set the rounded up ones back out on their designated lands and mind their cattle and sheep interests. Leave nature to take care of its own. They have lied, cheated and stolen from the American people and the horses. The BLM needs to be held accountable for all the wrong doings that they have done to the wild horses and donkeys. Charges need to be filed for all the horses that they lost to the slaughter pipeline. Otherwise they need to forfeit their budget money and disband the whole corrupt group of them which would probably be better for the wildlife as a whole.

I agree with Terri! Plus if the BLM would of left these horses alone in the wild, none of them would be sick and none would look they’ve been put thru hell! Standing in dirty pens, so sad. Dam the BLM!

The BLM is one of the worst government agencies we have today. It is not operating with the best interests of the horses but rather for the special interests that claim the land set aside and protected for the horses. These horses are much more susceptible to disease and injuries when crammed in high numbers in a contained area like this. If a dangerous and highly-transmittable infectious disease were to infiltrate this holding facility, or others like it, it could prove disasterous for these horses. American tax dollars are supposed to be going to properly manage and protect our wild horses. We need to completely restructure the BLM and get people in there that know what they’re doing and do it with the intentions of preserving and protecting our treasured wild horses.

I saw the before & after pics of these horses. It is truly disgusting what blm does to these wild animals after they are stolen from their legal domain. Somehow, they found the taxdollars to capture & incarcerate them, somehow they can find the dollars to properly care for these “protected” (ha!) animals. PVC has already sent 100’s of foals to rendering plant this year. In 2007, PVC, was closed due to “salmonella” and hundreds of horses have died there from dehydration because no one bothered to fill the troughs. This place is a hell hole concentration camp. PVC employees should face federal charges.